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The thought had crossed her mind too. It was a valid point.
    “She died when I was very young.” He didn’t need to know the details. Sadly there was no paper trail of her father, whoever he was. Her birth certificate had a blank space under the section, “ F ather’s name. ”
    Vialli looked at her curiously. At least that was better than the suspicion of a few minutes ago. “The letter is not conclusive. There is no way to verify it.”
    “I know, but it’s all I ha ve to go on. Can’t you see? I came because I need to know for sure.”
    Vialli nodded slowly. Anna prayed she was getting through to him. “Will you tell me something about him?”
    The eyes narrowed again. “What makes you think I know anything?”
    Anna sighed. Come on . Give me a break. Why all the cynicism?
    “Well, he’s your client for starters, which means you must know something about him. Like what he does or where he lives. ” She studied his expression closely but Vialli didn’t react, so she continued, “ Obviously he trusts you , since you screen everyone who comes looking for him . You’re also incredibly loyal considering you won’ t let me near him and I’m hardly a threat. ”
    She saw him wince and knew she was on the right track. He was overly protective of his client for some reason. Giovanni must be super- wealthy or something.
    “Will you help me?” She stared up at him pleadingly. When he didn’t immediately reply she added, “You are my only lead. If you d on’t help me...” She looked down at her hands. “ I don’t know what I’m going to do . ”
    If he didn’t help she’d have to go home. There was no point in running around Capri breaking into properties trying to find a clue to Giovanni’s whereabouts. That was foolish, desperate behaviour—a nd she was neither. Okay, maybe she was a tad desperate to find her father, but he was the only living relative she had. Surely that justified a small degree of desperation?
    “Ms. Crawford...” he began, thoughtfully.
    “Please, call me Anna.”
    “Anna. To be honest with you I can’t decide whether you’re telling the truth or you’re just a very good liar.”
    “Liar! But I...”
    “Please, let me finish.” He held up a hand. Anna looked down at her cup. This couldn’t be happening. She’d really thought at last she was getting through to him.
    “You broke into my property in the middle of the night . That is not a good indication of your honesty . ”
    Anna blinked back tears of frustration. It was five in the morning actually, but she got the point. Breaking in had been an utterly foolish thing to do, but it was done, and she couldn’t undo it, so there was no point in crying over spilt milk. Granted, it didn’t paint her in a very good light , but he’d left her with so few option s .
    “So what do you expect me to do now?” she asked him plaintively. “Go home? Is that it? I must just go back to London when I might well be Giovanni’s daughter?”
    Vialli leant forward, putting his hands flat on the table. He gazed directly into her eyes as if daring her to dispute him. “ I’m afraid I can’t write a ten million dollar cheque just because you might be Giovanni Albertosi’s long lost daughter.”
    Anna stared at him in astonishment. Did he just say ten million dollars? This was getting weirder by the minute. “I don’ t want ten million dollars,” she snapped. “ I just want to meet my father. Why is that so difficult to understand ?”
    Vialli ran an agitated hand through his hair. “Because Giovanni Albertosi left ten million dollars to an unknown illegitimate heir in his will.”
    Anna’s head started to spin and she felt sick. What had he just said? She didn’t give a hoot about the money. Her mind could only focus on what his words meant.
    He couldn’t be... Surely not... Not now that she’d finally found him...After all this time...
    Her hold on the coffee mug tightened . “You mean....he’s...he’s...?” she